Stoicism:
Stoicism remains perhaps the most immediately relevant and
useful philosophy in our time. Its ambition is to teach us how to be brave, how
to remain calm in the face of today’s anxieties and possible disasters a dress
rehearsal for catastrophe. Stoic teachings are dark and sober yet at the same
time profoundly consoling making us defiant in the face of difficulty.
Our mind is a system of organs of computation designed by
natural selection to solve problems faced by our ancestors in their foraging
life style. We developed an understanding of how to outmanoeuvre objects, plants,
and other people. This Darwinian process that has developed over time. Human existence
has lived in such conditions for 99.5 % of its time on earth. It is little
wonder that we unconsciously act the way we do. These historic conditions
required bravery and calm in the face of overwhelming anxiety. It seems
reasonable to suggest that Stoicism presents one of the more useful philosophies
for this uncertain age.
When anxiety visits we need to remain calm, to systematically
and intelligently crush the last visage of hope rather than tell ourselves that
better times are near. If we think and prepare for the worst possible outcome,
we enable ourselves to cope as we have envisaged the worst outcome. Generally we
don’t dare to do this, any glimpse of horrible eventualities are banished. The
Roman philosopher Seneca wrote,
‘To reduce your worry, you must assume that what you fear may
happen.’
He suggested we take time to practice worst case scenarios,
sleep on the floor for a week and only eat stale bread. We must in order to be
calm learn to expect less from life. It is natural for acquaintances to fail us,
friends to lie, loved ones disappoint. The wise person needs to aim to reach a
state where nothing suddenly disturbs their peace of mind. We naturally exaggerate
our own importance; incidences in our lives loom large in our view of the
world. We must learn to reduce their importance to regain composure. Life is
always in the hands of fate, understanding this is the best philosophy.
No comments:
Post a Comment